


IMRE

by dev (froggbones), froggbones



Category: Original Work
Genre: Multi, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Vampires, Witchcraft, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 11:09:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17222906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/froggbones/pseuds/dev, https://archiveofourown.org/users/froggbones/pseuds/froggbones
Summary: Life was simple for Arabella Imre, a young witch with the tendency to feed homeless creatures at night. Then it wasn’t.





	IMRE

**Author's Note:**

> it’s 3am and i don’t have an actual description for this story yet

It was another chilly winter night that left the windows fogged from the inside out, frosty on one end but steamy on the other, and the heat that circulated throughout each room had made its rounds to that of Arabella, a thin girl of small stature who lay in her bed with a decorative looking book in her hands. Propped up on her elbow, her eyes danced along each line of words as her warm, fleshy hands caressed the smooth leather cover of the novel. A bedside lamp on the desk nearby provided a gentle, warm light that enveloped her and illuminated her pale beige bedroom walls. It was a peaceful feeling, almost euphoric, and it kind of reminded her of memories of staying warm by the fireplace downstairs as a young child. She could almost smell the sweet, grassy aroma of her aunt’s renowned herbal tea. Witches from all over their small forested community knew of Aunt Willow’s homemade beverages and potions. Imre’s Elixirs was practically a household name.

Their warm cottage rivaled the brisk, biting coldness of the winter season rearing its ugly head outside. Fresh, powdery white snow covered the frozen ground from the storm that had rolled in and out within an hour or two earlier that day, and though there was something beautifully romantic about the purple sky and silence it brought with it, Arabella always felt something eerily off about the winter storms.

The book she was reading was really starting to strike her fancy. She hadn’t expected to like it so much, seeing as it had been a gift from Aunt Willow after a trip down to Barnaby’s Books and Trinkets, but it was growing on her. It was a story about a young witch on a journey to find herself, and it was written in the language that most witches used when speaking to each other — a formal language often referred to as Scireic that had been developed by one of the first witches many eras ago. Though it wasn’t common for modern witches to interact with creatures outside of their covens, on the occasion that it did happen English was their next go-to. In spite of this, some older generations of witches knew little to no English and chose to keep to their covens with no interest of associating themselves with any foreign creatures. As a kid, Aunt Willow had taught Arabella to leave it be. She’d always been the daring type, to her aunt’s dismay, but if there was one thing she wasn’t ever going to test it was tradition.  
Arabella’s dive into witchy fantasy was interrupted by a curt tap on her windowpane. The girl looked up from her book and over at her windowsill. No longer was the bright, blue moon glaring down at her exposed room and lighting up her wooden floor with fluorescent, natural light like it had been only moments earlier, as now there sat a lumpy looking shadow in its path of trajectory. Her porcelain skin that had been blue in the light of the vibrant moon was now only yellow in the light of her bedside lamp. She set down her book of reverie and swung her legs over the side of her bed. Getting to her feet, Arabella felt the cold wood under her toes and brought herself over to the windowsill. Pulling back the curtains of lavender lace, the girl breathed a sigh and twisted the lock to push open the pane of glass. “Come on,” she spoke softly, trying to ignore the icy nip of the winter wind.

As Arabella stepped aside to welcome her nighttime visitor, the figure crawled through his entrance as if he’d done it plenty of times before. He made himself at home on the girl’s bed as she pulled her window shut and drew the curtains. The creature breathed out a frozen cloud. “Whooph. S’rough out there tonight, Belli. You’ve got it pretty easy in here.”

“If you came to bring me another one of your rat heads, I don’t care whether it’s on a string or in a jar — I’m not taking it.”

“You kidding? I’d be lucky if I could find any rats out there tonight. Unfortunately even they’re smart enough to go back home and get warm. Sucks, man. A guy’s gotta eat.”

“Jarv, I don’t really know what you expect me to do,” Arabella huffed. “I can’t exactly sneak downstairs and bring a whole deer platter up for you to gorge on.”

“You have deer? Shoot Belli, there’s no way that’s fresh. How long have you had that for?” the Jarv boy asked.

“Dunno. Not that long. Don’t act like it’s that big of a deal. My aunt got it from the butchery in town. I’m sure you could go down there and get some.”

The boy just cocked a sideways grin. “You’re funny, Bel. Get a load of that one. ‘A vampire walks into a butcher shop...’”

Arabella was getting annoyed. “Jarvis, I’m trying to help you. I know you’re hungry but you can’t always come to me in the middle of the night and expect me to be able to feed you. How often do you come around here when I’m sleeping, anyway?”

Jarvis hesitated and glanced down at Arabella’s desk. “No idea. Hey, what’s this you’re reading?” He picked up the book and flipped open the cover, but before he could get a good look at any of it it flipped shut again in a hurry. Jarvis let out a startled yelp. “Ah! Your weird book just cut me!”

Arabella leaned up against her windowsill. “It’s a witch’s book. It’s not going to let you read it. It’s enchanted, mouse brain.”

Jarvis was sucking the blood from his hand where he’d been struck. “Yeah, well it didn’t need to cut me. Someone should throw that thing in the pond. It’s gotta be like fifty eras old, it’s doing nothing but collecting dust!”

“Oh, stop it. Keep your voice down. Do you want to be thrown out into the snow? Besides, I’m actually reading it, so it’s not collecting dust. It’s kinda good. You wouldn’t be able to understand a word it says anyway. It’s written in Scireic.”

“You mean that fake language I hear the the shopkeepers yelling in? Didn’t know you could fill up a book with that many curse words.”

“Cut it out, Jar. Look, forget the book. Did you only come here looking for food or was there something else you wanted?”

“I mean it was mostly for warmth and food because that snow storm was gnarly. Did you see that stuff coming down? It was heavy as bricks to fly in!”

“Why were you up so early?” Arabella questioned, one eyebrow raised.

“Huh? Oh. I’m an early riser.”

“No, you’re not.”

“As of tonight, I am.”

“Jarvis,” Arabella groaned in growing agitation, “as much as I love having you over when I should be asleep, you’re starting to waste my time. I know this is your afternoon, but this is my midday. You’re making me sleepier the longer you sit here and chat with me.”

“Yikes. You’re in a funk tonight, Bel. I get it, though. You want me gone. I get it. I’ll go.”

“It’s nothing personal, you know? It’s just super late for me. Like, a witch needs her beauty sleep. I’ll tell you what; come back tomorrow night and I’ll have some snacks waiting for you. I’ll go out and buy some meats just for you, okay? Then we can talk forest gossip and all that fun stuff.” Arabella was still sitting on the windowsill awaiting Jarvis’ response. The boy sat staring at her in contemplation. 

“Belli,” the boy finally started in reply, “the moonlight really brings out that red hair of yours, you know?” He smiled a toothy grin. “I’ll be back tomorrow night. If I don’t see any rabbit’s feet, I’m gonna be pissed! Remember, keep ‘em as raw as possible!” He got up and eagerly bounced over to sit beside his friend. Jarvis sighed. “It’s getting harder out here for us ‘creatures’, ya know? These witch shops keep popping up faster and faster nowadays. Sooner or later we might not have much land to ourselves. Food is more scarce because of the storms, and the little that there is is being trapped and sold by the shopkeepers. Look, I get it, witches are trying to make a living and all, but us carnivores gotta eat too! Those fauns have it easy. Man. Anyways, I’ll get going. Rest up, Bel. We’re gorging ourselves tomorrow!” He turned and gave the girl a peck on the cheek before he turned halfway and pushed the window open. One minute he was next to Arabella, but the next he was taking a dive head first out the window. It unnerved her every time to watch him take such a risky move, but she knew he was used to it so she had no clue why she always worried so much. As she started to close her window pane and place the lock back where it was, she watched the bat whose fur was black in the moonlight fly off further and grow smaller against the sky.

Drawing her purple curtains, Arabella sat back on her bed and pulled her feet up onto her mattress. Considering her options, she decided it was just best to hit the sack now. The young witch reached over to her bedside table and fixed the book that her friend had tampered with. With a final glance at the blue moon outside of her window, Arabella flicked off her nighttime light and leaned back in her bed. Resting her head on her comfortable pillows, her eyes no longer fought the urge to close.


End file.
